Panagiotis Lafazanis

Greece might have barely scraped by and avoided a default on payment of ECB bonds due August 20, after the Eurogroup approved the 3rd 86bln Euro rescue plan on Friday, but the real task of implementing the harsh austerity measures in exchange for the cash still lies ahead for the Greek government.

Following an overnight debate, the Greek Parliament is set to vote on the third bailout programme ahead of the scheduled meeting of eurozone finance ministers later on Friday.

Tax rises, pension and other spending cuts are among the reforms, which Greece has to implement in order to be granted a new bailout of about EUR 85 B.

The Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government’s main goal at the moment is to reach an agreement with lenders (EC, ECB, IMF and ESM) so as to clear the political scene and start its new three-year bailout program along with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s development package worth 35 bln euros.

Tensions between the members of SYRIZA’s hardline Left Platform and the more moderate pro-government faction are escalating with acrimonious public statements continuing.

The former Alternate Minister of Social Insurance Dimitris Stratoulis outlined the Left Platform’s plan to pull Greece out of the economic crisis speaking to state media outlet ERT in Volos, central Greece.

Sources state that former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ preparations for the drachma were built up step-by-step. Centrist Potami deputy Haris Theoharis said that Varoufakis plan for a return to the drachma had been on the table from the outset and he told Proto Thema that he still has his doubts as to whether efforts for the return of the old currency have been scrapped altogether.

In a letter published in hard-core left site ‘Iskra.gr’, which fervently supports Panagiotis Lafazanis’s left platform grouping within ruling Syriza and a return to a national currency (the “drachma lobby” crowd), renowned Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis called on the leftist Greek government to abandon a policy of what he called “harsh austerity” and fall-back on a “no” vote during a recent r

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is addressing the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) central committee meeting at 10 a.m. on Thursday. He takes the podium a day after his interview with Sto Kokkino radio station on Wednesday where he underlined that if he doesn’t have the majority, he will be forced to hold elections.

SYRIZA’s political secretariat is under way for a second day in a row Tuesday to decide when and how the party’s convention will take place. Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, who was present in yesterday’s meeting will not be absent today.

The powerful “Left Platform” of the Radical Left Coalition met on Monday night in what looked like an election campaign (but wasn’t) following the faction’s rift with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras after he signed a deal with harsh austerity measures at the Euro Summit on July 13.